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The enthusiast’s takeaway of the Acura RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD is that it’s a fat version of the future NSX, except with too many doors (two too many); too many seats (three too many — or four, depending on the audience); and too much trunk space (12.0 cu. ft., more than three less than the front-drive RLX because of a 1.3-kW-hr lithium-ion battery). Plus, the engine and electric motors have been positioned in the wrong places.

Of course, the all-wheel-drive RLX is not the NSX. It’s not even an AWD vehicle in the traditional sense. Automotive convention has taught us that AWD systems have a baseline torque split between the front and rear axles (i.e., a 50/50 f/r split) with an available dynamically adjusting range (25/75, 10/90, etc.) that supports maximum grip and performance over a variety of road conditions. The unifying key is there’s a single source routing the power around.

The RLX’s Sport Hybrid Super Handling All Wheel Drive takes a completely different and fascinating approach. The front wheels have their own power source, as do the rears. When starting slowly from a stop, two rear e-motors (one for each wheel) are responsible for propelling the car with no contribution from the front engine. A gentle right foot will coax the big sedan up to 15 mph on battery power alone, and by then, any speed higher in electric drive is a tough proposition. With sufficient battery charge and after engine assist, the car can cruise at slightly higher city speeds (think 30-40 mph) on the rear e-motors at the expense of greater energy draw, and therefore, fleeting e-drive. The RLX can, in certain situations, be RWD.

It can be FWD too. Backtracking to the slow start scenario, the back wheels will eventually need assistance as the battery runs down. While passing 15 mph, the 3.5-liter V-6 takes over and turns the RLX into a front-driver. It’s FWD at a high-speed highway cruise as well, where the engine (the V-6 has a different intake cam profile and no belt-driven A/C compressor compared to the regular RLX) can operate more efficiently. It’s a comfortable highway runner, quiet, with just whiffs of tire noise from the 245/40-19 Michelin Primacy MXM4s. With enough electrons in the battery, the car can cycle between engine-on FWD and engine-off RWD, depending on speed and driving load. You can watch the power shuffle in digitized graphics in the head-up display or on the 8-inch center screen.

Finally, here’s the entire reason why it’s called Sport Hybrid SH-AWD: Hard acceleration and cornering bring AWD into the fold, empowering a peak combined system output of 377 hp. The front e-motor integrated into the fresh-out-the-oven seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is primarily supposed to be a generator and help recharge the battery, but it can provide up to 47 hp when the car requests full power. It dives out of the gate thanks to an AWD launch, good power from low to top end from the advantageous switch from the e-motor to engine powerbands, and the blink-of-an-eye DCT shifts. We’re estimating a 0-60-mph time in the high fours, but seat of the pants says it could be a mid-four-second car (the FWD RLX tested out to 5.8 seconds). One caveat: The rear e-motors’ 10.383:1 reduction ratio and 11,000 max rpm mean they declutch from any acceleration duties near 80 mph.

Much fuss has been made about the torque vectoring abilities, where the rear e-motors can accelerate or decelerate either back wheel independently of one another to help rotate the car into corners. Fundamentally, when driving quickly through curves and assuming there’s adequate traction, it’s in an AWD or RWD vehicle’s best interest to try to “overdrive” the outside rear wheel, whether mechanically through the driveline or by timely braking of the inner rear wheel to induce usable yaw.

Since the RLX’s rear end is fully electrically powered, the Sport Hybrid SH-AWD system has lightning-fast reaction times and isn’t constrained by the amount of air being pumped into the engine. It’s fascinating because the AWD setup is programmed to be proactive with pivoting the car onto and keeping the desired driving line. Radical off-throttle torque vectoring and active slowing of the inner rear wheel with regenerative rather than friction braking translates into the car aggressively turning even during periods of lift-throttle. Customarily, a front-biased vehicle without these features, on drop throttle with the sudden load shift to the front tires, defaults to understeer.

Instead, this RLX dances like a much smaller sporty car. Driven in Sport mode, the DCT is willing to downshift and hold gear without driver prompting. The rack-assist electric power steering is accurate but we’d welcome more feedback. An Electric Servo Brake system yields a very stiff brake pedal that simultaneously helps mask the handover from initial regenerative to more powerful hydraulic braking. We’re looking forward to testing one to see if the back end can step out as much and as long on and off power as our early drive foreshadows (hint: a lot).

We honestly can’t imagine the RLX not being the first to market with Sport Hybrid SH-AWD. The Acura flagship’s lineage, of which the RLX is now entrenched, includes the pioneering Legend and SH-AWD-debuting RL. The family line is a proving ground for Acura‘s vehicular statements. Super-conservative styling aside, a car with Sport Hybrid SH-AWD, an estimated 30 combined mpg with 377 hp, a nicely trimmed cabin with gaggles of technology, and brand firsts such as the DCT, electronic gear selector, head-up display, and variable accelerator-pedal effort is a natural fit.